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Canon Image Challenge | all galleries >> Challenges From The Past >> 2011 Challenges >> CIC 47 - Under The Milky Way (Hosted by Najinsky) >> CIC 47 - Eligible > White Temple Under Milky Skies
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10-AUG-2011 Najinsky

White Temple Under Milky Skies

Chachoengsao

Wat Sothon Wararam Woraviharn is a large and visually stunning temple. I have some closer shots which show off more detail but I like the way this mosaic in the foreground seemed to mirror the temple and also allowed big sky, which I think suits the challenge better.


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Canon Image Challenge13-Aug-2011 03:26
yes, many of my friends (and grandson) also use aperture and nik silver f/x is really one of the best for B&W images at this time. you certainly have used these tools subtly to help you express your photographic vision! shu

Canon Image Challenge11-Aug-2011 18:56
Believe me, I understand, shooting in a tropical or worse, equatorial light...is, not just challenging, very often it is impossible....I'm always spinning the wheel, exposing 2 under, 5 minutes later, shooting 2 over....it is hard to shoot these physical locales well no matter how great the subject.

I like what your are doing because it is so subtle....you can't tell it's HDR, not really, yet the harshness I know is in the scene isn't there either....

New tools....for excellent work.

Traveller
Canon Image Challenge11-Aug-2011 08:54
Traveller and shu, thank you for the comments.

Traveller I get a little nervous when the topic turns to HDR because it can take on the fervour of a religious debate. Let's start with a simple No and say this is not intentionally processed for HDR in the 'typical' HDR sense. But that doesn't tell the full story.

As I travel I am seeing some wonderful sights and photographing them in various ways. When reviewing the images, I sometimes look at the exposure and say to myself, if that's how the scene looked it really wasn't worth hitting the shutter. But of course, when there are details and textures throughout the highs mids and lows, the exposure isn't really how the scene looked. And with this in mind I now expose for optimal processing later

The first problem we all know is blown highlights. In this case exposing for the temple leads to a blown sky, and as the sky was important for this shot, I had to account for that and expose accordingly.

But now my temple, mosaic/paving, trees and grass are too dark, and more subdued than in the scene.

So to fix, the image is brightened, which reduces saturation and contrast, and then the contrast and saturation is added back using a variety of digital filters, some of which are similar to some of the tone mapping processes used by HDR software. So it's also fair to say there is an element of HDR processing about it.

Also, in the case of this image, the light was very soft with bright sky and virtually no shadows anywhere, and I think this is a factor in the overall appearance too.

The software used is Apple's Aperture for raw development and Nik software plugins (Vivezia and Color F/X, and Silver F/X for B&W processing). Total processing time about 5-10 minutes. I've haven't needed to use Photoshop for over a year.

-Najinsky
Canon Image Challenge11-Aug-2011 01:27
great shot! not only fit for the challenge, but a very interesting shot, as well! it's hard to say if hdr was used on this shot, but if it was, it is one of the few i have seen that benefit from the process possibly due to the careful use of the tool. shu
Canon Image Challenge10-Aug-2011 21:30
Yes, the balance and Symmetry are very nice....there is a HDR quality to several of your recent images...see Kuang Si Waterfalls, is there a little this going on here?

I was not aware that you were such a master at photoshop....but apparently you are.

Best Wishes, Traveller